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| MECA0053-3 | Geophysical fluid dynamics
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| Duration : | 30h Th, 30h Pr |
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| Number of credits : |
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| Lecturer : | Jean-Marie Beckers |
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Language(s) of instruction :
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| French language |
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Organisation and examination :
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| Teaching in the second semester |
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Course contents :
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| Summary of classical fluid mechanics, Newton law, mass conservation, constitutive equations, state equation, non-homogeneous fluids, Boussinesq approximation, potentiel vorticity conservation, hydrostatic equilibrium, internal waves, geostrophic currents, boundary layers and Ekman spirals, upwellings, spectral windows, instabilities, turbulence, geophysical turbulence. |
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Learning outcomes of the course :
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| The aim of the lecture is to adapt classic fluid mechanics concepts to geophysical flows. The particularities of geophysical flows (non-homogenous composition, wide range of scales, rotation, stratification, small aspect ratios...) ask for specific adaptations of the governing equations. Those adapted equations then lead to the explanation of geophysical processes as specific wave propagation processes. |
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Prerequisites and co-requisites/ Recommended optional programme components :
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| Fluid mechanics lecture (typically MECA025) and/or a course in continous mechanics (MECA0022 or MECA0203). |
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Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
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| An home work is proposed after each lecture. One student is supposed to prepare the solution and send a copy of it before the next lecture to JM.Beckers@ulg.ac.be
in .pdf or .ps format and present it to his costudents for discussion. |
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Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
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| 2 hours per week, 1 hour of theory and 1 hour of exercises.
If schedule allows it, wednesdays from 10:30-12:30 |
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Recommended or required readings :
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| Lecture notes, slide copies and animations are available upon request |
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Assessment methods and criteria :
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| Written exam on exercises (40%). Exercise of the type treated in
homeworks. This exam allows to use the lecture notes.
Oral exam (60%). One question drawn from a list. |
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Work placement(s) :
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Organizational remarks :
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Contacts :
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| Jean-Marie Beckers (JM.Beckers@ulg.ac.be) |
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